Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Switch
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Unlike the stages I'd seen so far, this one felt incredibly realistic.
Ripples flowed across the lake, creating a quiet atmosphere, and the moon—which I hadn't glimpsed once since falling here—hung brilliantly in the sky.
I checked above Song Arin's head.
The purple thread still extending from her remained taut, as if connected somewhere far off.
"Hyaak!"
Curious, I reached out and lightly touched the thread. Song Arin shuddered violently and let out a scream.
"What was that just now? It felt really weird."
"Nothing at all."
I rubbed my temple and replied to Song Arin.
[Find the moon.]
That was the first thing I'd heard upon entering here.
I'd found the moon, sure enough, but what came next?
I stared up at it with that thought in mind.
As if to confirm the voice hadn't been wrong, a translucent window appeared over the moon.
[Name: Lighting]
[Age: Created 20 years ago]
[Specialty: Stage Creation]
[Talent: Transformation]
[Background: The theater director was thrilled to find this lighting, as if he'd discovered light itself. It could add even more realism to his plays. His preparations for the ritual continue steadily.]
[Weakness: As always, find the switch and turn it off, or break the bulb, and the lighting will be unable to fulfill its role.]
Stage creation and transformation, huh.
Who would ever guess that beautiful, glowing moon was just lighting?
The problem was, I had no gun to shoot it with.
I glanced at my smartphone, marked [Out of Range].
[We're on our way, so hang in there!]
[Just wait a bit.]
I recalled what those two had said about coming.
How exactly did they plan to get here, saying it so confidently?
"How are you holding up, Song Arin?"
"I'm fine now. ...But you look like you need worrying about first."
Song Arin scanned my face.
Her expression was full of uncharacteristic concern.
"Why? Is my face that bad right now?"
"Yeah. Pretty serious."
She brushed my forehead with her sleeve and spoke.
"Why's there so much cold sweat? ...Does it hurt a lot?"
I couldn't exactly tell someone making that face, *You look better now, but my headache's worse because of it.* So I just nodded.
"Seems like strong mental attacks."
"This feels like I'm showing up as friendly to the enemy, so you're taking all the hits that should've come my way."
Out of the HR Team trio, she always had the quickest read on things. Did it have to apply here too?
"..."
"Right?"
"That's just paranoia."
"Hypnotists are all paranoid. Seeing you snap like that, uncharacteristically prickly, confirms it."
Song Arin sighed and kept wiping my forehead with her sleeve.
"Your clothes will get dirty."
"I hate this outfit anyway."
She replied flatly and ignored me, wiping away all the sweat.
It was ridiculous, but her care somehow made the headache feel a little better.
"See? You said you were fine, but now that I'm looking after you, it's getting better, right?"
She smiled at me, then looked up at the moon.
"Right now, I have this faint sense that I'm not human. Keeping that vibe, that thing up there *is* something, right?"
"Yes."
I looked up at the moon alongside her.
"That's... well, lighting, I guess you'd call it. Or the culprit behind this incident."
"So that's what dragged us in here?"
"Doesn't seem like it."
I recalled the description I'd seen with my own eyes.
Containment Objects weren't always alive or monsters, of course. There were tools among them too.
This lighting was like a tool. Like the butane gas I carried—it needed a user to take effect, and the results varied by who wielded it.
"But it probably did force everyone else into becoming actors."
"So, you're saying this lighting's power made them actors, but whatever turned them into puppets after they died was something else entirely?"
"You've got it exactly right."
Song Arin really followed my logic better than anyone.
Yoo Daon dominated on raw instinct, while Jang Chaeyeon led in combat sense.
"Then we need to smash that thing first."
"Right."
"...How?"
Song Arin stared at me with a helpless look.
Yeah. That was the problem.
How?
We had no flight abilities, and even if we did, reaching the end of who-knows-how-far lighting was dubious.
Plus, we had to cross the lake.
In short, we needed long-range attacks, flight, and water-walking abilities.
Even if Jang Chaeyeon and Yoo Daon showed up, this seemed tough.
"...Let's find another way."
"Another way?"
I recalled the weakness I'd seen earlier.
If we couldn't break the lighting, we just needed to find the switch.
"Let's look for the switch."
"Switch?"
I explained my thoughts on the lighting to Song Arin, and she nodded with a subtle expression.
"Not wrong. But how do we find it?"
"..."
"..."
Our eyes met, and she let out a deep sigh.
"You're telling me to sense it out, like how I found this place."
"Your instincts are enough. If not, toss me something to deduce."
"Got it."
After one last wipe of my forehead with her sleeve, she closed her eyes and focused.
Better not disturb her now.
I scanned around carefully, wondering if my eyes might catch something else.
The lake, the moon, and finally, the trees.
Leaving Song Arin to concentrate, I ran my hand over a tree.
The texture felt off.
Not like real wood—more like plastic trees on a set.
I dipped my hand into the water.
Not scalding, but warm, like bathwater.
The lake water was warm?
"..."
With my hand submerged, I sank into thought.
Warm lake water.
Drinking it seemed iffy.
I stared at the lake over and over, but nothing new appeared to my eyes.
So, just warm water, then?
As I debated drinking it, Song Arin snapped her eyes open.
"Found it—did you find it too?"
"Huh?"
Her gaze fixed on the lake.
"The switch? Or whatever you call it, but the thing I'm connected to... ...the sun? I think it's in here."
"You can sense that too?"
"Not sure. But I can't keep this up long."
She furrowed her brow.
"I keep feeling like I'm not human."
"Not human?"
"Yeah, like my whole worldview is warping. ...Keep this up, and the Management Bureau will put a hit on me."
What was that supposed to mean?
"A hit?"
"...Yeah. Trust me, you don't wanna know. And let's keep this... secret."
Song Arin glossed over her words.
Her ominous tone made it clear: unless absolutely necessary, no messing with Containment Objects or methods.
There might be gains, but I didn't want Song Arin labeled an enemy of the Management Bureau and killed—or worse—because of me.
"...Anyway! We go in here."
"You're sure we have to go inside?"
"Crazy as it sounds, yeah."
She nodded with a troubled expression.
"...Then I should go first."
No time.
I wanted to sever her method too, if I could.
I glanced at the precarious line connecting her to the sky.
"Let's hurry."
Gotta cut it quick. This feels bad.
*
-Splash! Splash!
I pushed through the water, moving forward.
Luckily, the water wasn't just warm—it was hot enough to ward off a cold, and shallower than expected.
At most thigh-deep for me, waist-deep for Song Arin.
Even heading to the lake's center, it didn't get deeper.
"It's around here."
Song Arin muttered with furrowed brows, scanning the surroundings.
"Not sure exactly where."
"Then, Song Arin."
"Yeah?"
"I'll disconnect. Hypnotize yourself or me."
"Suddenly?"
"I'm a bit uneasy."
"Because of that hit talk earlier? What if we can't find the switch?"
"You don't know more than 'around here' anyway."
Song Arin pouted at me.
"No need to worry."
"What if something big happens? Hurry."
"...Fine."
As always, she couldn't win when I dug in.
I detached the line rising from her head.
Song Arin shuddered, then immediately closed her eyes.
After a brief silence, she opened them.
"Done."
"...You hypnotized me?"
She opened her mouth defensively at my words.
"But you were the quickest one to suggest."
"Me?"
"...Most familiar. Easiest to grasp."
She mumbled in a crawling voice, avoiding my eyes.
"Ah... I see."
"Don't get the wrong idea!"
She huffed and looked around.
As I followed suit,
"...Huh?"
Something touched my soaked toes.
At first, I thought it was a rock, but the texture differed from the ones I'd stepped on before.
I bent down and picked it up.
A small switch.
A plain white one, nothing special.
As I eyed it, a translucent window appeared.
[Name: Switch]
[Age: Created 20 years ago]
[Specialty: Switch]
[Talent: Switch]
[Background: The lighting's switch.]
[Weakness: Breaks when the lighting breaks.]
"How'd you find it so fast?"
"Nice work."
Song Arin smacked my back—even though I hadn't said anything.
"...Should I flip it?"
She nodded, and I pressed the switch.
-Click!
It clicked crisply,
-Thud!
And the light went out.
"..."
"..."
Pitch-black darkness descended.
"Is this right?"
"Not sure. Stick close to me."
As Song Arin grabbed my sleeve, a sound echoed from the dark.
-Clatter!
-Clatter!
-Clatter!
Amid splashing, in the total blackness, only a translucent window was visible.
[Name: Carl]
[Age: 22 years]
[Specialty: Actor]
[Talent: Actor]
[Background: Sacrificed by the plot, he gave his body—and in the end, even his soul.]
[Weakness: Every brilliant play has its manipulator and director.]
A familiar window.
"..."
I clenched my fist.
How do you fight what you can't see?
-Splash, splash!
As the window drew closer in the dark, I narrowed my eyes.
No choice.
[Critical: 1->0]
In the inky blackness, a glowing red light appeared.
Time slowed. I swung my fist into the dark, smashing into something solid with an impact,
-Splash!
And it tumbled into the water.
"What? How'd you do that?"
"Can't do it twice."
I grabbed Song Arin's wrist.
The light was out, at least.
"Let's go."
"Where!"
"To find help!"
To find our combat team.